Feds to pay $144.5 million for role in Texas church shooting

The federal government has agreed to pay victims of a 2017 church shooting in Texas $144.5 million to compensate them for the Air Force’s failure to flag the shooter as someone who shouldn’t be able to buy a gun.

The settlement could defuse a thorny issue for the Biden administration, which was fighting the payment in court even as President Biden argues for more background checks and other gun controls.

Devin Patrick Kelley had a prior domestic violence assault conviction on his record. The Air Force didn’t report the conviction to the FBI, so it didn’t register in the background check when Kelley bought guns, some of which he used to attack the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs.

A federal judge previously ruled that the Air Force bore most of the blame for the shooting, and Wednesday’s settlement puts a price tag on that.

“No words or amount of money can diminish the immense tragedy of the mass shooting in Sutherland Springs,” said Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta. “Today’s announcement brings the litigation to a close, ending a painful chapter for the victims of this unthinkable crime.”

The settlement covers more than 75 plaintiffs. It must still be approved by a judge overseeing the case.

Kelley sprayed 450 rounds in the church, wounding 22 parishioners and killing 26 — one woman was pregnant and her fetus is included in the official tally that authorities use.

Two parishioners who were armed chased Kelley.

Kelley eventually killed himself.

A federal judge in 2021 ruled that the Air Force was 60% responsible for the shooting and set damages at $230 million. The Justice Department appealed that award earlier this year, saying it wanted to seek a settlement.

Gun control advocates had pressed the administration to stop fighting the ruling and payout.

They said arguing against the judge’s conclusions undermined the administration’s core political position that guns are dangerous, purchases should be restricted and background checks can work.

The new settlement comes as Mr. Biden renews his call for gun control after a school shooting last month in Nashville, Tennessee, were three children and three adults were killed.

The shooter in that case, Audrey Hale, purchased seven guns from five different stores since 2020. The shooter was also under a doctor’s care for an “emotional disorder,” authorities said.

In the wake of the Nashville shooting, Mr. Biden renewed his call for a ban on a class of semiautomatic rifles often referred to as assault weapons.

After an even deadlier school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, last year, Congress approved legislation to enhance penalties on gun trafficking and unlicensed dealers. Democrats failed to win approval for broader background checks or the assault weapons ban.

Many Republicans, meanwhile, favor legislation encouraging trained security or armed teachers as a way to discourage school shootings.

The background check system is supposed to prevent weapons purchases by those with serious criminal backgrounds or domestic violence convictions, those with serious mental impairment, those subject to a court’s protective order, those who are immigrants without documentation and temporary visitors and anyone dishonorably discharged from the military.

Last year’s law added juvenile records into the mix.

In Kelley’s case, the perpetrator of the 2017 church shooting, the Defense Department’s inspector general said the government missed many chances to submit his records to the FBI.

Those included Kelley’s records of a 2011 reported assault on his stepson, a 2012 assault on his wife, a 2012 report of absence without leave and a 2012 court-martial conviction.

After the court-martial, the Air Force’s records claimed Kelley’s fingerprints and final disposition report were sent to the FBI, but the inspector general said that wasn’t true.

Investigators said the Air Force agents, supervisors and the jail that handled Kelley’s cases didn’t understand or didn’t follow correct procedures.